Former Chief Justice of India Justice V N Khare whose landmark orders re-opened the Best Bakery case and set norms for dealing with hostile witnesses told The Indian Express today that the same standards should have applied to the Jessica Lall murder trial. Victim Zaheera Sheikh’s repeated flip-flops in the case have a parallel with those of key witnesses in the Lall murder case in which nine were acquitted by an Additional Sessions Judge in Delhi today. “If a witness turned hostile during trial proceedings, it is the duty of both the prosecution and the trial judge to cross-examine (him or her) to ascertain whether the witness turned hostile because of greed or fear or any other ulterior consideration,” Justice Khare said. “If it is so (the witness was influenced with money and/or fear) then the statement should be ignored and re-trial should be ordered. But I don’t know whether this aspect was gone into in the Jessica Lall murder case” Justice Khare said. The ruling wasn’t available today. Now that the accused have been acquitted in the case, redressal could be sought from the High Court on appeal both or either by the prosecution and the victim’s family. “I made it clear in the Best Bakery case that if Zaheera had withdrawn her earlier statement, then, she should be cross-examined to know whether she was under any extraneous influence. I found that her signatures were obtained on plain paper and a statement was written later. On this, I ordered the re-trial”, Justice Khare said. “Our criminal jurisprudence, borrowed from (the) British, (is) heavily loaded in fafour of the accused.in such a situation what I said in that (Best Bakery case) context was (that) give protection to witnesses”, Justice Khare said. Indian Evidence Act provides for cross examination of “Hostile Witnesses” and on this ground too the prosecution and the victim’s family could move the high court.
